In the early morning of 20 October, University of Edinburgh Students Against Scabs with aid from Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society (EUJPS) began occupying Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre in support of striking staff.
Their statement on Instagram expresses three demands: “Stop the cuts,” “Disclose, Divest, Democratise,” and “Mathieson and Graham Resign Immediately.”
The group states they are “reclaiming this building in support of the demands of the SSA [Student-Staff Assembly].”
The University College Union (UCU) began five weeks of striking on 28 September, with the planned end date of 30 October, disputing the cuts of 90 programmes, primarily in the Literatures, Languages, and Cultures Department, and 1800 jobs throughout the university.
The UCU and Students Against Scabs demand the reversal of the cuts, along with reform of the governance system by granting decision making power to the University Senate.
When asked for a comment, EUJPS said: “We are just students that support the striking staff” and remarked that they agree with the Student Against Scabs statement.
In addition to EUJPS, the UCU demands financial transparency from senior management and divestment from companies linked to genocide. Past occupations of Gordon Aikman and other university buildings have been to spread this message.
The university was named one of the “most financially entangled institutions” in the UK, with over £25m invested in countries central to Israeli surveillance.
The UCU and Students Against Scabs reject Peter Mathieson’s decision to not run for a third term as principal, and instead demand an immediate resignation from both Mathieson and Kim Graham, the Provost Professor.
Furthermore, they demand that in future their roles are elected by students and staff, fostering further democracy throughout the university.
This story is breaking and will be updated as it develops.
Image by Cordelia Murray-Brown for The Student.
